Badly Wounded Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Responding to Questions

Despite a serious throat wound preventing him from speaking, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect is beginning to respond to questions from investigators, according to federal officials, NBC News reports. Nearly 48 hours after he was taken into custody following an intense gun battle and manhunt, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was communicating with a special team of federal investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. Word that the badly wounded suspect was able to communicate with authorities came as a surprise, especially after details about the severity of his injuries began to emerge. Tsarnaev, who remains in serious condition, was responding to questions mostly in writing because of the throat wound, according to the officials. The throat wound may be the result of a suicide attempt, investigators said. Officials are hoping to glean more information about the twin blasts last Monday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured more than 170, and determine whether Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a gun battle with police Thursday night, received assistance from others.